The present invention relates to systems and methods for facilitating the separation of organics from fluids.
Protein removing devices have been used to remove dissolved proteins and/or other dissolved organic compounds from, for example, aquaculture fluid. These devices typically introduce a fluid to be treated through a top portion of a reactor vessel, and a countercurrent of air through a mechanism that creates bubbles near the bottom portion of the reactor vessel. As the bubbles rise up the reactor vessel through the fluid to be treated, proteins and/or other organics adhere to the bubbles and float to the surface level to the fluid in the vessel. The accumulation of the bubbles having the proteins and/or other organics adhering thereto at the surface of the fluid in the vessel generates foam. The foam can subsequently be removed to remove the proteins and/or other organics from the vessel. The current technology, however, may not provide a uniform interaction of the bubbles with the fluid to permit optimal removal of materials dissolved in the fluid. Moreover, current technology often requires the foam to travel a substantial distance along the surface of the fluid before being removed. As a result, a large amount of foam can burst and collapse during removal, which can lead to the redissolving of the removed proteins and/or other organics in the foam back into the fluid.
The present invention provides, in one embodiment, an apparatus for facilitating the separation of material dissolved from a fluid to be treated. The apparatus, in accordance with an embodiment, includes a column having an interior chamber extending between a first end and a second end of the column. The apparatus further includes an inlet in tangential communication with the interior chamber, so as to impart a cyclonic flow for fluid introduced through the inlet. Below the inlet, an injection port may be included through which bubbles can be introduced towards a central axis of the column. A trough may be situated circumferentially about the first end of the column for collecting foam generated by the coalescence of rising bubbles having material dissolved in the fluid adhering thereto. Adjacent the second end of the column, a first outlet may be provided in tangential communication with the interior chamber, so as to permit the cyclonic flow within the interior chamber to exit therefrom. A controller may be provided on the outlet to regulate outflow of treated fluid from the interior chamber. A second outlet may be provided in communication with the trough for removal of foam collected therein. In one embodiment of the invention, a deflector may be placed at the surface level of the fluid to enhance diversion of foam into the trough. Furthermore, an enclosure may be extended across the trough, so as to pressurize the fluid within the column to facilitate removal of foam through the second outlet.
The present invention also provides a method for treatment of fluid. The method includes imparting on the fluid a flow direction, which approximates a cyclonic pattern. Thereafter, the flow direction may be permitted to move axially downward while maintaining the cyclonic pattern. While maintaining this cyclonic pattern, bubbles may be injected transversely to the pattern towards a central axis, such that the bubbles rise through the fluid in a countercurrent manner relative to the flow direction towards a surface level of the fluid. Subsequently, materials dissolved in the fluid may be allowed to adhere to the rising bubbles and separate from the fluid. The introduction of bubbles into the cyclonic flow may result in a substantially uniform mixing and interaction of the bubbles with the fluid to permit optimal removal of materials from the fluid. Next, the bubbles may be permitted to coalesce into foam on the surface level of the fluid, and the foam removed.
In another embodiment, fluid to be treated may be introduced into an interior chamber of an apparatus through a tangential inlet in a manner which imparts a cyclonic flow within the interior chamber. The fluid may, thereafter, be subjected to a downward flow along the interior chamber while permitted to maintain a cyclonic pattern. Bubbles subsequently may be injected through an injection port, across the fluid flow, towards a central axis of the interior chamber, such that the bubbles may rise towards a surface level of the fluid in a countercurrent manner relative to the downward flow. Materials dissolved within the fluid may next be allowed to adhere to the rising bubbles, and the bubbles be permitted to coalesce into foam at the surface level of the fluid. The foam on the surface of the fluid may then be directed radially into a trough for removal.